It’s almost asparagus season! While asparagus is readily available year-round in the stores here, like most things I prefer it seasonally fresh and local. Now is definitely the time to celebrate asparagus. This Asparagus Recipe Roundup features seven recipes (plus a bonus) that showcase the elegant green spears in a variety of dishes. Enjoy!

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Asparagus Recipe Roundup

Roasted Asparagus

There’s so much more to do with asparagus than simply steam or simmer it. My most common way of making it is to simply roast it with olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper. During barbecue season I make it the same way, except outdoors on the grill. Roasted or grilled, I’ve made this scores of times, and the asparagus always turns out beautifully. And, it’s a quick and easy preparation, as you’ll see here.

Savoury Pastry Asparagus Dishes

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I’ve always had a weakness for any kind of pastry, and these two recipes offer up asparagus with two different pastry bases: a pizza dough and crispy phyllo. Asparagus and prosciutto is a classic pairing, which led me to the idea of an Asparagus and Proscuitto Pizza. What can I say? It turned out to be a very good idea.

For a more elegant approach to showcasing asparagus, this Asparagus Goat Cheese Tart is not only easy to make, but its stunning presentation makes it an ideal starter for a dinner party or the main dish at a special lunch.

Asparagus Soups

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Asparagus is lovely in soups, and there are two different offerings on the blog. The first is a spinach and asparagus soup, with flecks of puréed spinach adding an extra touch of verdant goodness to the bowl. Asparagus White Bean Soup has added richness and protein from the addition of luscious cannellini beans (you could substitute white kidney beans). Part of the soup is puréed to create a thicker, richer broth.

Asparagus and Eggs

This may be as close as I get to green eggs on the blog: a frittata featuring asparagus. Whether for breakfast or a light lunch, perhaps with a green salad on the side, this is a great way to integrate the freshness of asparagus into a protein-rich dish.

Asparagus Salads

Going back, waaaay back to 2012, my second year of blogging, the food photos here may have been generally lacking in style and execution, but I was still putting asparagus to tasty use. Like grilling it up on the barbecue for a Grilled Asparagus Green Salad.

Bonus: shaved ASPARAGUS salad

This is a pretty photo of a pretty dish, but I don’t have a formal recipe for it on the blog. But … shave asparagus with a vegetable peeler, very thinly slice red some onion, pour on a good-quality olive oil and a white wine or champagne vinegar, season with salt and pepper and toss. Voila!

Which Will You Choose?

Whether you’re driving to a local asparagus farm or a farmers market to choose produce fresh from the fields, or buying asparagus at the grocery store while the snow flies outside, your options for using it go far beyond simply steaming or cooking it.

Why not step outside your asparagus comfort zone and try one of these Asparagus Recipe Roundup offerings? Let me know which one you’d choose. And if you make any of these recipes, I’d love to hear how they turn out.

First Published 2019 05 18
Republished 2020 05 22
Republished 2021 04 22